


Deviation from Safe

by sterlynsilverrose



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: M/M, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:34:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24265936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sterlynsilverrose/pseuds/sterlynsilverrose
Summary: Henry has a routine.He likes his routine, really he does.But, what if one day when working at the King's Cafe he finds someone that starts to shake up his life by throwing a wrench into the safe place he's built for himself. Alex is a surprise that might just make him think about stepping outside his routines.
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
Comments: 16
Kudos: 109
Collections: RWRB Spring Fling Exchange





	Deviation from Safe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aurumdalseni (kyo_chan)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyo_chan/gifts).



**May 10th  
4:00 A.M - [Wake Up] **

Henry opened his eyes at the sound of his alarm. His body felt heavy, and his side hot from where the dog, David, was pressed up against him on top of the blankets. The room was cold, but the cocoon he had worked himself into was the worst and best prison in the world. 

The **worst** because he couldn’t sink back into slumber. 

The **best** because at least he had woken up somewhat warm without his sister and Pez freezing him out again (they always joked that he ran a little hotter than most people.) 

Fighting free of his blankets, Henry wiggled to the edge of the bed and put his feet into his slippers to stave off the chill from the dark wooden floors. Again, he didn’t need to get up this early and be in a bad mood fighting to get warm in an equally cold cafe. 

He stumbled into the bathroom, relieved himself, and started up the shower. While he listened to the hiss of water on the bottom of the tub, he pulled off his pajama shirt over his head and tossed it into his clothes bin and turned, grabbing his toothbrush and toothpaste getting to work. 

After that, Henry slipped out of his slippers and his ratty pajama bottoms and slid into the shower to further wake up. 

The only consolation is once this part of his routine was done, he wasn’t alone. 

“Good morning, lovely!” Pez greeted him from the kitchen. 

Bea sat at the island with a glass of orange juice in front of her and a piece of toast in one hand. In front of her was the morning paper. Henry reached out and took it from her, leafing through it as he heard her grumble. “Morning to you as well, Bea.” 

His sister took her time chewing the bite of toast, as Henry settled beside her. Pez leaned forward on the other side of the island working on a sliced apple, watching with amusement. She took a drink of orange juice before pointing at him. 

“I was reading that.” 

“Oh? Were you? Terribly sorry.” 

Henry smiled as he found the page that he was finally looking for. Once he had that, he settled the paper back in front of his sister. 

“You know if you two wanted to avoid the same conversation, then maybe when you get the paper in the morning you should just pull out the restaurant reviews in the morning when you grab the paper.” Pez pointed out with a grin. 

“I think what we have going is a routine.” 

“You know how Henry is about his routine,” teased Bea. She popped the toast into her mouth with a satisfied hum and stood up, 

“I’m going to take David out, when I get back both of you better be ready.” 

“Yes ma’am.” Pez called out at her back as Beatrice escaped the kitchen to finish their morning routine. Or was it more of a ritual? 

Well, whatever it was, it was comfortable. There wasn’t a reason to change. 

**5:00 - 6:00 A.M - [Cafe Time]**

Pez opened the door. 

Bea turned on the lights. 

Henry headed straight for the office to get the day started. 

The cafe was only quiet for a split second before the energetic tones of David Bowie thundered through it. Henry rolled his eyes as he turned on the light to his office. Everything had a place, and everything was in its place from where he had left it from his fussing the day before. 

Turning on the computer, Henry settled in his chair and opened his schedule on his desk looking at what it had listed for that day. 

Check the reviews in the paper - Check. Done.  
Check the online reviews where their cafe was listed  
Respond to any and all complaints and thank others for reviews.  
Take stock from Pez for baking ingredients and coffee beans from Bea  
Pay the bills.  
Send his monthly PNLs to his brother  
Work the cafe for his shift. 

That was just at work. 

He still needed to go with Pez to a side project that night, make sure that Bea made it to her NA meeting, and then he had to find food for them, work out, walk David and go to bed. 

Then he would get up and do it all over again. 

There was a satisfaction in having a routine. He was happy, or at least he thought he was. But there was a persistent tiredness in him lately that he couldn’t shake. But there wasn’t enough time to dwell on that for the moment. Things were good, great even. He couldn’t ask for more, could he? 

**1:00 - 6:00 [Cafe Shift]**

Henry watched as Pez floated between the tables of the cafe cleaning them off. He had taken his position behind the counter as usual. Bea had finished her shift and had gone home to let David out and check on her cat. Thankfully the house they rented was big enough for all five of them, but if anyone or anything else decided to move in they’d have to find something bigger. 

They probably _did_ need something bigger eventually. 

Another bedroom wouldn’t hurt especially if his mother decided she ever wanted to visit, or his brother. The thought of his brother coming to visit made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. 

No, he didn’t need to think about that at all. 

“Excuse me?” 

Henry’s head snapped up as he stared at the man across the counter. 

“Hey, sorry to interrupt whatever was going on here-“ the man gestured to his forehead with a small smile, “But I kind of have a class to get to and I wanted to try this shop.” 

“Oh. Yes. Sorry.” Henry wiped his hands on his apron. 

“What would you like?”

“Hm. Let’s do something sweet. How about a mocha frappe with some caramel on the glass and whip cream?” Henry wrinkled his nose. Sweet indeed. 

“Don’t like sweet things?” The other man asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“Well, I feel that sweetness should be used sparingly.” Henry turned to start and blend the drink. 

“Is that so? Do you talk to all your customers this way, or am I just special?” 

Henry paused and realized that he really had been talking his mind to a customer. A paying customer. Well, damn. He would have to do something as an apology about that. After all, they lived on their reviews from customers and it would do to have someone go on there and be the first to leave a horrible review. 

“Sorry. It’s been a long morning.” Henry lied easily. 

“That’s okay, I kind of like the way you talk.” 

What? 

He put everything into the blender and shut the lid over it and turned it on. “Is that so?” 

“You could totally make it part of the service here.” 

Henry turned around and looked at the man across the counter. Really looked at him. There were hundreds of patrons and customers that would come through those doors today. Most of them he couldn’t tell what they looked like, but this one he would definitely commit to memory. 

He had tan skin, dark hair, and equally dark eyes. 

His smile was a thousand watt and that confidence, well, that confidence right off the bat already made Henry’s knees feel a little like jelly. “Well if you like that, then I guess I’ll see you again sometime?” 

Without waiting to see the way handsome looked at that, Henry turned around, grabbed the cup and the bottle of caramel and drizzled the inside. 

“I don’t know. I’ll taste the frappe and let you know.” 

What a smug voice. Henry shook his head, poured the cold concoction into the cup and sat it down. Leaning over to the small fridge he grabbed the whip cream (this also had a hint of caramel in it. But that was their secret around here. Pez had quietly stolen the idea from a larger chain a bit ago after he made friends with one of their workers.) and topped the drink. 

Putting a lid on and turning around, Henry offered the drink to the man over the counter, “Here. Free of charge for my mouthing earlier.” 

“Oh? Now that’s some service!” The young man beamed at him over the counter. 

“Thanks, ah-“ The guy looked at his shirt, and squinted, “Henry.” 

Oh. He liked the way the young man spoke his name. He really wanted him to come back, 

“Think of it as a reason to come back and try something else. Maybe a little less sweet? We have some amazing drinks.” Henry turned and opened the small case beside the register and fished out one of the sugar cookies Pez had baked this morning with a white buttercream frosting and little rabbit piped in gel. 

“And the cookie?” 

“Something extra.” 

Henry put it into a small bag and handed it to him, “Here you go.” 

“Thanks. You must really want me to come back.” 

“I would treat anyone this way.” Henry added, just to feel better about the way he was acting. Sure the man was attractive, but was he really doing this to himself. Surely, the other guy would have a laugh at his expense later. 

“Oh wow. This is good stuff.” 

Henry blinked and looked up, “Oh? Thank you.” 

“I’m definitely going to have to come back, but for now?” He motioned to his watch. 

“See you later.” 

Henry watched as the attractive man wandered towards the exit, straw between his lips, pulling vigorous sips of the cold concoction. Henry felt like his heart was in his throat as he watched the cute man and his tight fitting chinos walk out the door. 

“Damn.” Henry muttered to himself. 

**7:00 - 9:00 [Dinner, David, and Freetime]**

“So, Henry found someone he likes.” Pez offered between bites of a honey sriracha chicken and sips of water. Bea hummed and Henry paused with a piece of chicken breast halfway to his mouth. 

“What? You did the thing.” Pez told him primly. 

“What thing?” 

“Oh. _That_ thing.” Bea hummed as he looked between Pez and Henry. 

“What thing?” Henry asked peevishly as he set his fork down with a sigh. 

“Well when Pez sees someone cute come in and he’s doing counter duty he always gives them a freebie of some sort.” Beatrice answered him as she forked a few pieces of lettuce and chomped on them thoughtfully. 

“And boy must he have had it bad. He didn’t even charge the guy and he gave them a freebie. Though with the way he looked I can’t say that I blamed him.” Pez waved his fork around in the air. 

Henry felt his cheeks flush a brilliant red. “Excuse me. He wasn’t that good looking.” 

“No. He was. He definitely was. He had dark curly hair, nice tan skin, and those pants were practically painted on him.” Pez continued on as he cut the slightly large piece of chicken into slightly smaller pieces. 

“So that’s why you noticed. You thought he was cute.” Beatrice nodded. 

“Yes, he might have been all those things, but that doesn’t make him gay.” Henry stabbed at a piece of chicken and pointed it at Pez, then Bea. 

“Well your chance isn’t zero.” Beatrice pointed out. 

“Close to it.” Henry sighed, leaning back in his chair.

“Won’t know until he comes in and has a girl on his arm.” Pez offered. 

“Yeah well, we will see about that. My luck is just that bad.” 

The rest of the dinner they talked about the movies coming out, trends in the drinks since it was summer and if they should change them, and about patrons from the cafe. The days worries seeped out of Henry. After a good light dinner, he changed into his running clothes. 

David wagged his tail and turned circles by the door. 

Their routine was pretty much the same every day. Wake up, go to work, come home, work out, go to bed. It was predictable, easy and safe. It was everything that Henry had wished for, but as he jogged with David at his side avoiding people on the small sidewalk as they went, he let his mind wander. 

Was safe all he wanted in life? 

Just because he was safe was that really living at all? 

He didn’t let those thoughts rule him, he only entertained the thought until he was at the doorstep of their home. Once he stepped in, any and all thoughts of wanting something more had vanished as soon as the door shut. 

**May 11th  
5:15 - 6:30 [Cafe Office] **

Everything should have been the same. 

Henry had woken up, gotten a shower, dressed, and breakfast. He and Pez had the earlier shifts and Beatrice was closing from 1 to 6. So that left Pez to work when things started and Henry to do the middle shift to cover the brunch time and lunch time rush. 

The first thing Henry was supposed to do when he came in was to check the reviews on various sites and respond. 

That day had started off ordinary, but when he had checked the e-mail there was one in the inbox that wasn’t from an order company, a review site, or spam mail. No, it was sent and was titled: Snarky Coffee Boy 

Henry wrinkled his nose, “What?” 

He let his cursor hover over the e-mail, before pressing it. 

Thankfully he didn’t have to wait long. 

—— 

Hello,  
I grabbed one of the contact cards from the register when Henry (His tag said it, I’m not creepy) had his back turned at the register. I would like to put in a compliment. That was probably one of the best drinks I’ve had, ever. Also, it looks like he actually is one of the owners there. If you’re reading this Henry, I enjoyed your snark. I thought I’d let you know before I sing your praises on Yelp! and Facebook. 

Though, I wonder, do you talk to everyone that comes in? If so, you have a unique marketing strategy and I feel less special. I will have to try and come again when time allows, but I figured this was a good way to continue the conversation I had to duck out on. Feel free to message back if you have time. 

Have a good night if you see this, 

Alex C.D. 

——

What? 

What the- 

Henry read over the message several times and it felt as if he wasn’t in his body. What was this? No one reached out to him via email. It was weird, and the fact that he seemed to understand that it would be seen as weird was another thing. But, his heart pinched in his chest and it felt a bit hard to breath. 

He let out a breath, cracked his knuckles and put his fingers down onto the keyboard. 

Now, what was he going to say? 

——

Alex, 

I am glad that our coffee made an impression on you. It’s always a compliment when someone gives us a good review, so thank you in advance for letting us know. As we go into the summer months, we will probably have more of those disgustingly sweet drinks you seem to enjoy. We are looking at adding a few others. I hope this means that you will come back and try them. 

Also, you are the only one that has addressed me so in the cafe to get that type of reaction. I’d like to think that our marketing plan is fairly normal and is led by word of mouth via internet reviews. 

Any other assumptions I should put to rest? 

Also, this is a business email, I shall attach my personal contact information below. 

Cheers, 

Henry F. 

——

It was hard to concentrate for the rest of the day. Henry found himself wanting to go back to the office and to check his email, but they were busy. Super busy. In fact, busier than they had been in a while. 

Why? 

“Oh? Didn’t you hear? One of the top influencers on Instagram recommended this place!” One talkative blonde told Henry. 

“What? Who?”

“I’ll show you.” Henry raised an eyebrow as the woman held up a finger and pulled out her phone. She typed in her password, swiped a few times and turned the phone to him. On Instagram was a post from an claremontdiaz_a. The picture was Alex, leaning back against the rail, lips wrapped around the straw with the cup in his hand angled with their logo of King’s Cafe. The caption read: “Sinfully delicious. I think I found my new favorite place.” 

Oh. Wow. 

“Is he a friend of yours?” The girl asked. 

“I’m not sure.” Henry said, refilling her friend’s water glass and resumed his rounds. Again, Alex was coming up in conversation. How could someone so effervescent have come into his life after one day and stand out so much? 

Things like this didn’t happen, and if they did they didn’t happen to him. 

**11:00 - [Another E-mail]**

It had been a long day. 

Henry hadn’t been able to leave the cafe on time because the rush took a long time to die down. This was all thanks to Alex as far as Henry was concerned. So things had been knocked off their schedule a little. They had to close up and Pez had to come back in to help get things sorted for the next day. Bea even had to go and run to their distributor herself to get a fresh batch of the flavors and some of the beans they had unexpectedly ran out of. 

It was a good and bad thing. 

It meant that dinner was pushed back, his jog with David was pushed back, and getting into bed at 11 at night felt as it had almost broken him. He wasn’t used to staying up so late, and that in itself was hard, especially when he would have to be up at the same time again. 

He really shouldn’t have checked his phone, but he did. 

On it was a rare e-mail notification. 

——

Henry, 

You okay? Do you always sound so uptight in your emails? I mean I get that you have to act a certain way at work, but is that just how you act in real life? Really? There has to be more to you to match that snarky personality in there! Also, if you get your marketing from reviews and word of mouth I’ll have to do something special to make sure that King’s Cafe is at the front of everyone’s mind, won’t I? 

Why? Because I’m cool like that. 

Thanks for the personal email. Now I can bother you on here instead of worrying that I might be bothering you at work. 

Talk to you soon! 

Alex. C.D. 

——

Henry pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead. This guy was going to be the death of him, he just knew it. He could feel it in his bones. Was this the answer to his thoughts on not just having an safe life? 

Alex didn’t look like he played safe. 

Did that mean if Henry stuck close to him, that these deviations in schedule would continue happening? 

Henry forced himself to lie down in his bed and turn off the light. He wouldn’t answer the email, at least not tonight. He needed to grab a few hours of sleep before he had to be in to work the next day. 

Tomorrow was another day. 

**May 12th  
4:45 - [End of Cafe Shift] **

Henry stood at the counter. This was his favorite time of the evening, normally people stopped coming in about now and he could slowly try and get things done for a swift exit. After getting less sleep the night before Henry didn’t want to do anything other than go home and nap while dinner was being prepared. It was Beatrice’s turn tonight, and tomorrow was his. 

One thing that was good about having two roommates is that they could share the responsibilities between them at the house. It was much the same at work. 

He doubted anyone would really put up with him and the way he acted sometimes. Pez tended to direct attention away from him and what Pez couldn’t catch, normally Beatrice would. They had formed a little bit of a barrier around him ever since they had lived together. Pez helped him tremendously, especially after his father passed away. 

The bell on the door rang signaling another couple customers breaking Henry from his thoughts. 

“This place has a good vibe.” A girl behind him spoke up. 

“Right? I was telling you, Bug, this place is great we could do all sorts of stuff here.” 

Alex. 

That voice belonged to Alex. 

“Oh we know what kind of stuff you want to do Alex.” Another girl spoke up and Henry paused in his wiping down of the current table he was at. 

“Nora!” Alex grumbled, and Henry popped up. 

“Afternoon, it’s been a few days.” Henry greeted, resting the rag over his shoulder. 

Nora whistled and let her eyes wander up and down his form. She turned to Bug (a nickname, obviously) and leaned forward and whispered, “Oh, he’s hot. Wow.” 

Alex elbowed her and stepped in front of both women, “Uh, yeah, sorry about her she doesn’t know how to talk in public yet. It’s why we don’t bring her out that often.” 

“No harm.” Henry assured him. He could feel his cheeks heating up as he turned and moved behind the counter. Turning on the water he washed his hands vigorously with the soap provided and toweled his hands off. 

“So, I thought if it’s okay with you that we could hang out here for a bit?” Alex asked him with a smile, “We have some things to talk about.” 

“That’s fine.” Henry assured him, putting on a smile, “What can I get for you?” 

“Can I do the same drink I had last time, a chocolate cold brew, and a dulce de leche flavored cappuccino iced? Oh, and two cake of the day, please.” Alex leaned over the counter with that smile. Part of Henry’s heart leapt up into his throat, the other part of him was a little too tired to deal with him today. 

“Going to take more pictures of the drinks for your instagram?” Henry asked as he turned to get the first drink ready. 

“Oh. There it is.” He didn’t even have to look at Alex to know that he was grinning. 

“What?” Henry didn’t look up from his task, the other was a pest. But, Henry couldn’t deny that he liked the attention. 

“Your oh so charming personality.“ 

“Alex, quit flirting with the hot barista and come over here so we can discuss the next event.” Nora called. 

“Hey! I wasn’t flirting. I was making conversation.” Alex complained as he huffed. Henry turned to give him a look and Alex smiled at him, “I should probably go back there before I die of embarrassment.” 

“I think that’s a good idea.” 

_For both of us._

The rest of making the drinks and getting the cake plated up, went without incident. Henry brought the drinks and made one more trip for the cake. He set the plates down and placed the forks down and stood there, “Please let me know if you need anything else.” 

Nora grinned, “Nope I think we are all good here, hot stuff.” 

“Nora you are going to get us banned and we haven’t even had a drink of coffee.” Alex griped. 

“Ah, I’m just going to go…back to doing my job.” Henry finished turning and immediately heading behind the counter again. 

“Nora. Stop. Like really.” The other woman told him. 

“Well it’s not like Alex isn’t interested. I’m just helping to feel him out.” 

Henry settled himself back away from them, giving them plenty of space. He was glad for the next customer to come in. It meant that he could actually focus on something other than the girls, Alex, and the utter embarrassment he was feeling right that moment. 

**6:15 - [?!?!?!]**

Henry was tired. 

Beyond tired. 

He had spent so much energy looking away and trying to be busy in order not to attract Alex and his companion’s attention, Henry had made himself busy behind the counter. Once they headed outside, he was able to breathe. 

_Just what was that?_

He had never really had to deal with a woman that acted almost like Pez before. Sure, they were out there, but Nora had proven hard to ignore. She had also made sure to call him over for small things. Alex spent more and more time looking embarrassed, but June (as she had introduced herself on one of his return trips from the counter) had just smiled and thanked him. 

Henry was glad it was time to close. He went to the door, and flipped the sign and locked the door. Finally, he went behind the counter and plugged his phone into the speaker system and put himself to doing a rush wipe down of the counter top and getting everything done. 

Once he was finished, he grabbed his coat, and headed outside. 

“Thank god today is over.” Henry muttered as he locked the door. 

“Yeah, sorry about that.” 

Henry fumbled and dropped his keys. Alex leaned over and picked them up. “You dropped these.” 

“Thanks.” Henry plucked them out of Alex’s palm and tucked them into his pocket. 

“No problem.” 

“Did you…uh…Forget something inside the cafe?” 

“Oh! No. I just thought I would wait for you out here…” 

Henry raised an eyebrow, “How stalkerish of you Alex.” 

Alex flushed and rubbed the back of his neck, “No! No, nothing like that. I wanted to apologize for Nora and just talk. I figured it was easier to do since I had a little time tonight. I normally don’t have that much time, not with class and all.” 

“Ah, yes, your friend is very …Interesting.” 

“It’s how she’s wired.” 

“She isn't a computer, Alex.” 

“She is as smart as one.” Alex answered, completely serious. 

What type of people had he found around himself? 

“Well, I have to head home now. My roommates will be waiting on my return.” Henry demurred, heading down the sidewalk towards the small parking lot at the edge of the shopping center. 

“Oh! I’ll just walk with you then.” 

“You must really like the coffee to want to talk to me as much as you do.” Henry commented dryly. 

“I like the coffee, yes, but it’s not like you didn’t hear Nora.” 

Henry faltered in his steps, “Excuse me?” 

“I like the coffee, but I also like you.” Alex offered. 

Henry stopped to turn and look at Alex. When he took in the sight of the other man. Alex wasn’t looking directly at him, but he could tell that he was nervous and putting himself out there. 

He concealed the smile threatening to break out on his lips, “Why thank you for your confession Alex.” 

Wanting to make the other feel just a little bit off balance too, Henry turned and continued walking. Alex made a strangled noise and let out a huff, “That’s it?!” 

“That’s it.” Henry agreed. 

“You don’t have anything to say to that?” Henry felt something warm unfurl into his chest. Was Alex part of the answer he had been seeking? No one could tell that quick right? But, for some reason the tanned man was popping up into his thoughts the last couple of days. 

Maybe it was okay to step outside the cage he had placed himself in and be a little less safe.. 

“Hmm. As I said, my roommates are waiting for me.” He took a few more steps and turned, almost nose to nose with Alex. “However, I would like to get to know you more. I won’t be available until Saturday, is that satisfactory to you?” 

Alex took a step backward and blinked slowly. It took a second before his face brightened, “Oh! Yeah, Saturday works!” 

“Okay, I’ll look forward to hearing from you.” Henry turned back around and started back towards his car. 

He didn’t hide the smile on his face as Alex whispered, “Yes!” 

It couldn’t hurt to deviate from playing it safe.

**Author's Note:**

> I had an idea that took a bit for me to put into words and once I started it I was able to have it flow a little better. I really agonized over the way to set it up in a way that made sense. However, it was so entertaining I almost wrote over the cap for the gift! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.


End file.
